Well done Rahul Gandhi
By Justice Markandey Katju
I had earlier been a critic of Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Indian Parliament ( as I am of all political parties in India ). But I was heartened to hear his recent maiden speech in the Indian Parliament.
He rightly said that Modi, the BJP and RSS have been inciting violence, spreading hatred against minorities, and telling lies for the last 10 years.
And when Modi got up and said that Rahul was maligning and castigating the entire Hindu community in India, Rahul immediately said no, he was talking of Modi, the BJP, and the RSS, whom he does not regard as Hindu, as a true Hindu would never do such things.
Rahul spoke on several other issues as well, e.g. Neet, Agniveer, Manipur, water logging in Ayodhya, etc
Rahul came out all guns blazing, and took the battle to the treasury bench camp, so much so that Modi had to get up and speak, and Amit Shah had to appeal to the Speaker for protection.
Not surprisingly, the Speaker, Om Birla, who is a loyal toady of Modi, ordered deletion of a portion of Rahul's speech.
One will have to see how Rahul Gandhi goes from here, but his performance in his maiden speech was admirable.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court. These are his personal views.)
